Allison Langdon held back tears as she interviewed a devastated resident who lost his home to bushfire in northern New South Wales.
The Weekend Today reporter, 40, became upset as Paul Campbell told her 14 homes on his street in Bobin had burned to the ground.
‘One of my mate’s friend’s mother could only find a tile that the kids made,’ the man said with a quivering voice on Sunday.
‘Some of them have been there 50 years and they’ve lost everything… so many memories,’ he said.
Mother-of-two Langdon’s eyes watered but she avoided crying on air as she urged residents to follow firefighters’ instructions as more than 100 blazes ravage the east coast.
Tearful: The Weekend Today reporter (right), 40, became upset as a man (left) told her 14 homes on his street in Taree had burned to the ground
‘One of my mate’s friend’s mother could only find a tile that the kids made,’ the man said with a quivering voice on Sunday as Langdon’s eyes watered
A map issued by the Rural Fire Service warns of a catastrophic danger – the highest level – to the Greater Sydney and Greater Hunter regions as temperatures will hit 37C
Helping hand: A resident puts out small fires as he rides his motorcycle in Old Bar, New South Wales on Sunday
Ravaged: A burnt car at a property destroyed by a bushfire near Glen Innes, New South Wales – as the worst is yet to come
Destruction: A firefighter works to contain a bushfire near Taree, New South Wales by spraying water on a smoldering tree
A fire ravages the land near Glen Innes, New South Wales as a series of devastating blazes sweep through the east coast
Bushfires taken from a plane in over north eastern New South Wales as more than 100 blazes ravage Queensland and NSW
A house destroyed by a bushfire is seen in Torrington, near Glen Innes. Dozens of homes have been ruined by the fires
Like father, like son: NSW Rural Fire Service volunteers Bob (left) and Greg Kneipp, a father and son, pose for a photo after successfully defending a property in Torrington, near Glen Innes
Firefighters keep a close eye on a bushfire approaching in Old Bar, New South Wales as they battle to control the blazes
A firefighter works to contain a bushfire near Glen Innes, New South Wales as more than 100 blazes ravage the eastern states
Langdon, who will soon host a revamped Today Show with Karl Stefanovic, asked Mr Campbell if he was OK.
Shattered, he replied: ‘Yes. It is just tough. I mean, so many others have lost stuff. You know, you are trying to just keep all your emotions in and be there for everybody but, you know, when you look at that… Every memory under the sun just gone.’
Three people have died and thousands have been displaced by bushfires raging across New South Wales and Queensland, with the worst day of the season so far expected on Tuesday.
A map issued by the Rural Fire Service warns of a catastrophic danger – the highest level – to the Greater Sydney and Greater Hunter regions as temperatures will hit 37C.
It’s the first time a catastrophic fire danger has been declared for Sydney since new fire ratings were introduced in 2009.
‘High temperatures, strong winds and low humidity are forecast, making conditions dangerous,’ NSW Rural Fire Service warned on social media.
‘Catastrophic is the highest level of bush fire danger. Homes are not designed to withstand a fire under these conditions.
‘If a fire starts and takes hold during catastrophic fire danger conditions, lives and homes will be at risk.’
Residents are warned to prepare to evacuate early and head to town centres and other safe places on Monday and not wait until the last moment on Tuesday.
A catastrophic fire danger has been forecast for Sydney on Tuesday in the wake of the bushfires that have devastated the Taree region on the NSW north coast in recent days
Devastation: Scott Morrison comforts 85-year-old Owen Whalan in Koorainghat after he lost his home in a devastating blaze
Residents are warned to prepare to evacuate early and head to town centres and other safe places on Monday. Pictured: Firefighters in Taree
A map of devastating heat: The dark red regions are where temperatures will soar above 30C on Tuesday
‘For your survival, leaving early is the only option,’ the NSW RFS website states.
‘Leave bushfire prone areas the night before or early in the day – do not just wait and see what happens.
‘Start making arrangements now.If you are unable to leave, identify a safe location which may be nearby.’
While NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian described the conditions forecast for Tuesday as ‘dire’, the RFS described the threat of lives and homes being lost as ‘very real.’
‘We’ve got big population centres covered by that catastrophic fire danger – but also up on the north coast where we’ve simply got a lot of fires burning at the moment, those fires have got a real potential to run and impact on lives and properties,’ spokesman Anthony Clark told the ABC.
It’s the first time a catastrophic fire warning has been declared for the greater Sydney region
It’s been a horror few days in the state’s north, where raging bushfires have claimed three lives and destroyed at least 160 homes. Pictured are the bushfires near Glen Innes on Sunday
Large areas of the state are also predicted to see ‘severe and extreme fire danger.’
‘This includes in the north coast and northern NSW areas, where there is a large number of fires already burning. These fires will not be contained in time and will threaten lives and properties,’ the RFS warned.
A statewide total fire ban has been declared for Monday and Tuesday.
‘We are ramping up for probably another 50 trucks full of crews to be deployed into NSWon Monday night ahead of conditions on Tuesday, NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters
‘We have seen the gravity of the situation unfold… What we can expect is those sorts of conditions to prevail across a much broader geographic area as we head into Tuesday.’
Moisture levels of trees and shrubs around Sydney are lower than during the Black Christmas fires of 2001, according to Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment fire researcher Rachael Nolan.
‘We already knew it was going to be bad’ even before Tuesday’s declaration of ‘catastrophic’ fire dangers for the Sydney and Newcastle regions, Dr Nolan told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘We’re seeing many reports of entire hill slopes of trees dying.’
‘What this means is that there’s lots of dead leaves on the trees and sitting on the surface of shrubs and on the ground. These dead leaves make the vegetation as a whole very dry, and therefore highly flammable.’
NSW RFS has described the potential threat of more lives and homes being lost on Tuesday as ‘very real.’ Pictured are firefighting efforts in Old Bar on the NSW mid north coast
More than 60 bush fires continued to burn across the state on Sunday night as conditions eased, with all of the blazes at ‘advice’ and ‘watch and act’ alert levels.
Just under half are still not under control.
‘We’re simply not going to contain many of those fires before the bad conditions do hit on Tuesday,’ Mr Clark told ABC.
Schools in identified high risk areas will be closed and the RFS advises those in the areas of catastrophic fire danger to avoid bushfire-prone areas.
More than 40 schools in NSW will also be closed on Monday due to the impact of the fires in the state’s north.
Parents, carers and staff should not put themselves at risk by travelling if in doubt about whether their school will be open, the department said.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said students sitting their HSC should contact their school if unsure if exams will occur, or if it is unsafe for them to get to an examination venue.
‘Students unable to attend an examination due to the bushfires will not be disadvantaged,’ she said in a statement.
The bushfires tragically claimed life of dairy cattle farmer Julie Fletcher, 63, whose body was found in the burnt out remains of her Johns River home near Taree on Saturday afternoon.
She had her car packed with possessions, ready to evacuate but didn’t make it out in time.
Grandmother of six Vivian Chaplain also died while trying to save her Wytaliba property more than 400 kilometres away near Glen Innes while the body of another local, George Nole, was found in a burnt-out car on Saturday morning.
Authorities have warned residents that the worst of the conditions are yet to come